The present application related to DC power supplies, and AC to DC power adapters. The present application further refers to multi-function power supplies, USB power supplies, and improved power supply efficiency, power density, and circuit protection.
With a modern proliferation of electronic devices, a wide variety of interconnects and power supplies to communicate with and power those electronic devices has emerged in a broad range of shapes, sizes, and connection formats. For many computing devices, power is provided to the device via a switching power supply that receives an AC input and provides a DC power to the electronic device. One potential interconnect is a simple DC tip input to an electronic device. Additionally, while there are various power supply connection formats from a power supply to an electronic device, a universal serial bus (USB) interface is a commonly used connecting interface.
The USB interface includes the benefit of being able to function both as an information connection and a connection for device charging. A general USB interface has pin definitions comprising a VBUS terminal, a D+ terminal, a D− terminal and a ground terminal. The VBUS terminal and the ground terminal are used to output DC power if the USB interface connects to a DC power source. The D+ and D− terminals are used to transmit data. Compared with conventional computer connecting buses, the USB interface is capable of transmitting data and providing electric power as a power supply connection in a standardized format. Because of the above-mentioned features, some portable electronic devices are designed to have USB interfaces for connecting to computers and charging the portable electronic devices from the computers. While power adapters and power supplies currently exist to support broad range of devices, there is an increasing need due to the numbers of devices in use by individual users or households that require charging. Improved mobile device adapters and chargers that can provide power adapting and charging functions for different types of devices and multiple devices simultaneously may therefore improve on the currently available device adapters and power supplies.